[Event "2022 U.S. Senior Championship"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2022.07.14"] [Round "7"] [White "Novikov, Igor"] [Black "Christiansen, Larry"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "Scott,Harold"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D37"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Declined: Three Knights Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/cfnNS6tI/mUnLNeyN"] [Orientation "white"] { [%evp 0,138,17,23,23,2,6,10,10,10,23,9,9,9,47,18,19,20,20,20,23,23,18,8,7,11, 15,2,4,9,9,-11,-16,-48,-35,-65,-11,-27,0,-6,0,-16,-31,-31,-31,-32,-39,-47,-32, -34,-30,-50,-56,-57,-62,-65,-67,-44,-46,-55,-51,-36,-36,-36,-42,-38,-32,-47, -50,-49,-38,-39,-12,-59,-59,-61,-62,-55,-64,-58,-58,-63,-57,-65,-55,-55,-31, -31,-37,-45,-57,-58,-56,-71,-71,-88,-82,-76,-85,-85,-92,-99,-115,-115,-120, -127,-128,-121,-139,-134,-144,-189,-183,-192,-192,-233,-225,-272,-225,-300, -245,-292,-323,-303,-320,-368,-360,-364,-293,-302,-299,-509,-551,-614,-509, -551,-579,-745,-745,-745,-755] } 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 a6 5. cxd5 { With this exchange, White is looking for an Exchange QGD where the move 4...a6 is less pertinent. } 5... exd5 6. Bg5 Be6 7. e3 Nbd7 8. Bd3 Bd6 { Larry deviates from when he faced Igor in the 2020 U.S. Seniors Championship. In that game, Larry played 8...Be7 and the game ended in a draw after 34 moves. 8...Bd6 has been played by Magnus with wins over Grischuk and Riazantsev. } (8... Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Rc1 Re8 11. Qc2 h6 12. Bh4 c5 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Be2 Rc8 15. Qb1 b5 16. a3 Nfe4 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. Nxe4 dxe4 19. Nd4 Nb3 20. Rxc8 Rxc8 21. Nxb3 Bxb3 22. Rc1 Rc5 23. Rxc5 Qxc5 24. Bd1 Qc4 25. Bxb3 Qxb3 26. Qc1 Kh7 27. h3 Qd3 28. Qc5 Qb1+ 29. Kh2 Qxb2 30. Qf5+ Kg8 31. Qc8+ Kh7 32. Qf5+ Kg8 33. Qc8+ Kh7 34. Qf5+ { ½-½ (34) Novikov,I (2554)-Christiansen,L (2567) U.S. Seniors Ch INT 2020 }) 9. O-O O-O 10. Qc2 h6 11. Bh4 (11. Bf4 { is White's main move here. } 11... Qe7 12. Bxd6 Qxd6 13. a3 Bg4 14. Nd2 c5 15. dxc5 Nxc5 16. h3 Bd7 17. Nf3 Rac8 18. Rac1 Qb6 19. b4 $14 { Riazantsev-Carlsen, Wch Rapid Doha 2016. }) 11... Re8 12. a3 c5 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. b4 Ncd7 15. Rad1 (15. Rac1 { seems more preferable as there is only one open file. }) 15... Rc8 16. Qb2 Qc7 17. Rc1 { It seems White has wasted a tempo by not posting the rook to c1 to begin with. } 17... Qb8 18. Bg3 Bxg3 19. hxg3 Ne5 20. Be2 Nc4 21. Bxc4 dxc4 22. Rfd1 Bf5 23. Rd4 (23. b5 Qc7 24. Rd4 Red8 25. bxa6 bxa6 26. Qd2 $15 { also seems reasonable. However, black still holds a small edge. }) 23... Red8 24. Rcd1 Bd3 25. Ne1 Rxd4 26. exd4 Bf5 27. Qe2 Qd6 28. Qe5 Qd7 29. d5 Re8 30. Qd4 b5 31. Nf3 Qd6 32. Qc5 Rd8 33. Qxd6 Rxd6 34. Rd4 Bc8 35. a4 bxa4 36. Ne5 a3 37. Nxc4 a2 38. Nxa2 Rxd5 39. Rxd5 Nxd5 40. Nd6 Bd7 41. Ne4 Kf8 42. Nec3 Nxc3 43. Nxc3 Ke7 44. f3 Kd6 45. Kf2 Ke5 46. Ke3 h5! { The engines give Black a slight advantage. However, I think that Black has real practical chances to convert this ending. The doubled pawns weaken the structure. Black has more space and with pawns on both sides of the board the bishop is swifter. } 47. Kd3 Bb5+ 48. Ke3 { Exchanging bishop for knight would result in a losing pawn ending after } (48. Nxb5 axb5 49. Ke3 f5 50. f4+ Kd5 $19) 48... Bf1 49. f4+ Kf5 50. Kf2 Bb5 51. Kf3 Bc6+ 52. Ke3 f6 53. Kf2 g5 54. fxg5 fxg5 55. Ke3 Ke5 56. Nd1 Bxg2 57. Nf2 Kd5 { Larry is well aware that pushing the h-pawn and allowing the knight sac is only good for a draw. The bishop is the wrong color, as it does not control the queening square on a1. } (57... h4 58. gxh4 gxh4 59. Kd3 h3??) 58. Kd3 Bf1+ 59. Kc3 Ke5 60. Kd2 Kd4 61. Ke1 Bg2 62. Kd2 Kc4 63. Nd3 Bf1 64. Ne5+ Kxb4 65. g4 h4 66. Ke1 Bh3 67. Nf3 a5 68. Nxg5 Bxg4 69. Kd2 Kc4 { Good technique by Larry and not a difficult conversion by him. } 0-1